INDIANAPOLIS — Call it a windscreen. Call it an aeroscreen. Call it a deflector. Call it whatever you want, but also call it a step in the right direction for IndyCar in its mission to make its sport safer.

IndyCar’s windscreen prototype made its on-track debut Thursday afternoon at ISM Raceway in Phoenix — the site of Verizon IndyCar media day and open test — and it came away with mostly positive reviews.

“Kudos to (IndyCar and PPG),” said four-time IndyCar winner Scott Dixon, who became the first driver to pilot a car with the prototype affixed to it. “There’s no game-stoppers … but there’s definitely things that we can improve on and make better.”

The windscreen is made of a proprietary Opticor advanced transparency material by PPG Aerospace, which is the same material used in its production of fighter jet canopies.

An encouraged Dixon spoke with media immediately following his first stint with the screen but planned to go back out on track to continue testing as the sun went down.

“It’s a little bit different looking through something that’s so thick, but I thought it would be worse with distortion, but there was nothing like that,” the Chip Ganassi Racing star said of the windscreen, which has already undergone numerous tests in a wind tunnel and racing simulator at Dallara.”Your brain and eyes just need to catch up to it. The longer that I ran, I got more adept to it.”

Dixon added that the screen might have actually helped reduce glare that’s usually created by the drivers’ helmet visor and tear-offs. The 37-year old New Zealander also added that he enjoyed how quiet the screen made his drive.

“The weirdest thing is how quiet it is,” Dixon said. “You have no buffeting. The car feels very smooth. It feels like you’re in a luxury well-damped car.”

The lone problem Dixon reported was how little airflow there was in the car. It got hot in the cockpit, so cooling needs to be addressed, he said. He also said he remains unsure of what vision impairment might be like on street and road courses.

IndyCar, with the help of PPG, has been developing the windscreen for the past two years as a way to protect IndyCar drivers from flying debris. There remains no timetable for its implementation or even a guarantee it will be implemented. However, Thursday’s test gave confidence to IndyCar officials that implementation is indeed possible.

IndyCar’s director of engineering and safety, Jeff Horton, was beyond pleased by the test.

“When a guy like Scott gets out, a veteran of ours, and says there’s no deal-breakers, a couple of small things to look at, what better could you ask for?” Said Horton, who has worked with IndyCar President of Competition and Operations Jay Frye and IndyCar medical consultant Dr. Terry Trammell, among others, on the development of the prototype.

Development of the windscreen has garnered nearly unanimous support from the paddock. While no driver suggested the current prototype is perfect and ready for implementation, nearly a dozen of them told The Indianapolis Star over the past two days that they applaud and are thankful for IndyCar’s continued efforts to evolve and enhance the safety of the sport.

“Listen, everyone is for safety as long as we don’t create other problems and we don’t change the sport,” four-time IndyCar champion Sebastien Bourdais said ahead of the rest. “I think it’s a general consensus. But it’s a very complicated thing to implement into a race car that was not built around it. It’s going to have it’s challenges, and everyone is very mindful of that. There’s going to be testing and modifications, and then we’ll see if there will be a viable option or not.”

Ayello writes for The Indianapolis Star, part of the USA TODAY Network.